Geithner: 'Essential' To Rethink Fannie, Freddie Role
June 18 2009 - 11:23AM
Dow Jones News
U.S. policymakers must "fundamentally rethink" the government's
role in the nation's housing market, and a key part of that will be
determining what to do with Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE),
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday.
Geithner, appearing on Capitol Hill to sell the Obama
administration's regulatory overhaul plan, said it was "essential"
that Congress and the White House figure out what to do with the
two mortgage finance giants that have been under government control
since last September.
But any decisions on the future of the two firms should be part
of a broader consideration of what role the government should have
in encouraging homeownership and housing policy, he said.
Additionally, he said the Treasury and the administration "couldn't
do it carefully enough, thoughtfully enough in this time
frame."
-By Michael R. Crittenden, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9273;
michael.crittenden@dowjones.com